Rock County unemployment rate is unchanged

MADISON—The unemployment rate in the Janesville metro area was unchanged in December, the Department of Workforce Development reported Wednesday.

Statewide, unemployment rates fell or stayed the same in nine of the 12 metro areas.

The department said the December rate for Rock County—also known as the Janesville Metropolitan Statistical Area—was 7 percent, the same rate reported in November and below the 7.9 percent tallied in December 2012.

Overall, the state unemployment rate in December was 5.8 percent, also unchanged from the rate posted in November and down from the 6.6 percent posted in December 2012, the department reported.

Of the 32 Wisconsin cities with at least 25,000 people, unemployment rates dropped or stayed in the same in 27.

Among counties, Rock County had the 26th-highest rate, while Dane County had the lowest at 3.8 percent.

Walworth County had a December unemployment rate of 6.2 percent, while Green and Jefferson counties had rates of 4.6 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively. Only Green County posted a decline compared to November.

Among individual cities, Janesville's rate of 7.3 percent in December was the ninth highest in the state.

With a December unemployment rate of 9.6 percent, Beloit had the second-highest rate among Wisconsin cities. It trailed only Racine and its December unemployment rate of 10.7 percent.